Tuesday, February 28, 2012

After struggling through my first coat I had learned a couple of lessons.

The second (the purple one below) and third were much easier.

I put the ties into the waistband - no problem.

Sorted out the hood issue.

Even added zippers to the front.

Another thing I noted after the first coat and my constant mantra of "Wrong Sides Together... Wrong Sides Together..." is that the long strips on the bottom of the coat should be serged to one another (the short ends) RIGHT sides together. That way, I have a continuous strip - without exposed seams - to attach to the bottom of the coat.

This looks a lot better!

But are these coats too kooky? Does anyone really want to wear such brightly-colored coats? Hmmmm....

Also, the wool bodices are really warm. Definitely too warm for AZ.

Still washing and sorting sweaters. After completing three coats, I changed my needles and thoroughly cleaned and oiled my serger. There sure was a lot of lint in there!

Monday, February 27, 2012

This is my first coat. I was preparing for the "Retro Indie" show and wanted to finish in time to present it at the show. Because the show was the second weekend in February, Darlene and I were going for a red/pink/romantic sort of Valentine-ish theme. Since red and black sweaters were easy to find, I decided to make my first coat in these colors.

I started out fine following the first couple of steps in the tutorial and then I was stumped at the "attach the straps at the waistband" step. I wasn't sure HOW to attach the straps so I just skipped that step and thought I would figure it out later. MISTAKE! After attaching the skirt and the bodice it was to late to insert the ends of the ties into the waistband (as I eventually figured out I should do...) so I just made a sash instead. No big deal.... I'll get it right next time...

I should say that I am a very seasoned seamstress with decades of experience. I actually own three sergers. Like Goldilocks I have one that is "too crappy," one that is "too complicated," and one that is "just right." It is a Bernina 1300 DC. I am very familiar with my machine and can practically thread it with my eyes closed. So although I had to monkey around with the tension dials a little, I didn't really have too much trouble getting started on the actual sewing.

I also have a huge drawer full of serger thread and it has been really fun to select the color of thread to coordinate or contrast with the sweater fabrics. For this first coat I chose fuchsia thread. It looks great!

The next step that had me stuck was attaching the hood. Now, I have made plenty of hoodies in the past and I know how to attach a hood, but I was following Kat's hood instruction to "fold it in half and sew it." I sewed it all the way to the brim which gave me a "cone" shape. I know better. I know this is not how to make a hood, but I was following the instructions very literally. So then when it was time to attach the hood, I knew I had a problem. Anyway, I fudged my way through and it didn't turn out too badly but I made a note for next time to trust my instincts.

My hood was very long. Very. Long.

I finished the coat and took it to the show and put it on a dress form. While there I noticed that the hood continued to stretch. It was ALIVE I tell you. By the end of the day I think the hood was about 12 inches longer than it was in the morning. And not only that, but the coat was obviously longer in the front and shorter in the back!

(Although interestingly, when my models came to the house and tried on the coats, they actually liked it longer in the front!)

Anyway, when I got back home I had the crazy idea to put the coat through another wash cycle, Hot water, dryer, everything. I thought it might tighten up the hood and perhaps fix the length problem.

After washing...

Well that was interesting.

The coat did shrink up a bit, but the proportions are the same. Later, I shortened the hood with my serger. The coat is still shorter in the front and now it just has a LOT of lint on it.

Sigh... I am going through a lot of lint rollers....

So - here is what I learned from the first coat:

1. Get the waistband and ties right the first time.

2. Trim the front edges in a way that creates a shorter front.

3. Don't make such a long hood.

4. Buy more lint rollers.

Also, I didn't try to add a zip front or buttons or pockets. I'd like to try them next time.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The second coat I finished was this purple one. It was better than the first one but I still needed to work out some glitches.

Finally at the third coat, I was getting the hang of it. These were getting to be a lot of fun.

My lovely model is Julia's friend, Jeanne.

Anyway - on to "The Washing."

After thrift shopping I will leave the bags in the trunk of my car until I have accumulated "a lot" of sweaters.

When the coast is clear, I bring them all into the laundry room and sort by color, I try to have one load of "darks," (black, navy, brown, etc.) one of "mediums," (blues, tans, etc.) one 'lights" and one "reds." Red dye will run and I just prefer to wash the reds separately.

Kat recommends washing on HOT and it was just against my nature to wash all of those lovely wool sweaters on hot but I did it.

I was shocked to see how much some of the sweaters would shrink. It seems that the washer does the shrinking and they don't shrink much more in the dryer.

In the meantime I read another book about designing with thrifted sweaters and this author recommended washing on "warm." So, I tried that too. And the warm wash didn't shrink the sweaters as much. Surprise, surprise. Also, the author, Crispina recommended a shorter cycle.

Well, the less-felted sweaters just don't work as well. Hot is better for the sweatercoats.

It is surprising how much lint is created. First there are little balls in the washer. This is especially true of certain fibers like angora and mohair. I very diligently clean these out of the washer and shake them off of the sweaters as I remove them.

Then I run them through a regular dryer cycle with a Bounce softener sheet. I just like the smell of Bounce.

I clean the lint catcher after every load. But no, I don't save it.

Just want to be clear on that.

Then I sort my lovely clean and fresh sweaters by color into piles in the sewing room.

"Mom the sewing room looks like an episode of Hoarders." (Actual quote from my daughter.)

Monday, February 20, 2012

I have been having a lot of fun making Katwise Sweatercoats. You can purchase the tutorial here and try it too!

I have just completed my fourth coat and I thought it would be fun to write about what I have learned.

This is my first coat. It is modeled by my charming and talented neighbor, Julia, Thanks Julia!

Anyway, after reviewing the tutorial - which is a link to a download so you don't even have to wait for the mail - woot! - I headed to the thrift store to look for sweaters. This coat is made entirely from thrifted sweaters. Isn't that great?!?! Recycling at it's finest.

I have never been a thrift shopper. If I did go into a thrift shop it was because someone else wanted to shop and I was stuck. I purchased some vintage fabric and craft supplies once - that was fun. I see all kinds of posts online about shoppers who find great things, but this never happened for me and I considered it a waste of time. So sweater thrifting is completely new to me and I am surprised by how awesome it is.

With a specific target in mind - 100% wool or cashmere sweaters - as cheap as possible - I headed to Goodwill.

Our Goodwill stores have the sweaters mixed in with the long-sleeved tops. So I started with men's because I figured I would get the most yardage that way. I also started with the largest size and worked my way to the smaller sizes.

I discovered that there are not very many 100% wool or cashmere sweaters in AZ! I also discovered that there are TONS of acrylic sweaters and they are always in the prettiest colors. Acrylic can mimic wool or cashmere so I always check the labels. Fiber content labels are often found in the lower side seam of the garment along with the care instructions.

Speaking of labels - sometimes the labels are completely cut out of a thrifted garment. This is because these garments have been donated by retail outlets and they want to be sure that the items are not returned to the store (or seller.) Sometimes the care and fiber tags in the side seam are still intact even if the brand and size tags are missing. Be sure to check!

I bring my reading glasses to the thrift stores because sometimes the labels are faded and hard to read.

There are loads of fiber blends. I trust my instincts on these. If it is 70% or more wool, and I like the color and the feel of it, then I will get it. If the first fiber listed is "acrylic" then it is vetoed. Mohair and angora (rabbit) fur are soft but they really shed. A lot.

I have just purchased my first alpaca sweater. We'll see how it goes....

After visiting a couple of Goodwills I figured out the "color" system. I'm sure I am the last one to know this, but there is a "tag color of the week." Say purple. So all purple tags are half price and on Thursday of that week. purple tag items are $1.00. So Thursday is the best day to shop at Goodwill as long as I am disciplined enough to stick with the "color tags." Which I usually am not....

About every other Saturday seems to be 50% off everything in the store. This is great, but always crowded. I have shopped a couple of times on these Saturdays and it is tough to get a cart. Next time I will be early.

Here in Phoenix, we have another thrift shop called Savers. Savers is great because they separate the sweaters from the long-sleeved tops so shopping is simple. However, Savers is generally more expensive than Goodwill. For instance - a man's cashmere sweater at Goodwill is regularly-priced at $6.99. At Savers it can be $19.99! WHAT??? Forget it. Savers also has color tags and regular 50% off sales. I also have a "membership card" for Savers which entitles me to early shopping on discount days. I did this yesterday. I was able to shop the "President's Day Sale" one day early. Everything was 50% off. But I still didn't get that expensive sweater!

There are tons of other thrift stores and although I haven't been to ALL of them, I have found that generally they all have regular sales and that's the best time to go.

Kat recommends "boiled wool" for the waistband of the coat. I have to remember to check the women's jacket department for these. I almost always forget....

Most important in the thrift store is to sniff every item for moth balls. I have purchased a couple of items that smelled of moth balls and didn't realize it until the items were in the wash. The stench just doesn't go away. Washing the sweater puts the smell of mothballs into the washer and contaminates the entire load. So, the first time this happened, I sniffed out the guilty sweater, threw it away and washed the rest of the load two more times.

Also check your sweaters for holes. I can usually cut around the holes, but this creates waste and I hate waste. Net time I will check more thoroughly and avoid the holes.

Here are some more tips:

1. Colors like black, brown, navy, and burgundy are easily found in the men's department and men's sweaters yield more fabric. 2. If you have time, search the dresses too. Sometimes long sweaters are hung with the dresses.3. Unusual colors work well as accents. You don't have to use "matching" colors. Go ahead and purchase the odd one. It may be the contrast that your coat needs.4. Thinner sweaters can be worked into sleeves, hoods, and the bottom rows. Also, felting will "thicken" the sweater.

Of course I have 20/20 tunnel vision when I am thrift shopping. I have never looked at any furnishings, accessories, books, or anything else. I just go straight to the sweaters.

However, one time while quickly breezing through the jackets I spotted a brand new paisley corduroy jacket (Isaac Mizrahi for Target Collection) that I had to purchase for Kaitlin. It was only $3.50. She loves it. That really opened my eyes. There are some great finds at thrift stores!